1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communications, and in particular, to managing the quality of a packet communication system that provides multiple services using diverse transport protocols.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 illustrates packet communication system 100 in an example of the prior art. Packet communication system 100 includes customer routers 101-102 and network routers 103-104. Customer router 101 is located at site A and is coupled to Time Division Multiplex (TDM) link 111. Customer router 102 is located at site B and is coupled to TDM link 112. Network router 103 is coupled to Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) tunnels 113, 114, and 116. Network router 104 is coupled to MPLS tunnels 113, 115, and 117.
In operation, customer router 101 exchanges user communications with various systems at site A. Likewise, customer router 102 exchanges user communications with various systems at site B. These user communications provide various services to sites A and B. These services include Virtual Private Network (VPN), Internet access, and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). Customer router 101 exchanges Internet Protocol (IP) packets encapsulating the user communications with network router 103 over TDM link 111. Customer router 102 exchanges IP packets encapsulating the user communications with network router 104 over TDM link 112. Thus, TDM links 111-112 transfer IP packets for multiple services—VPN, VOIP, and Internet access.
For the VPN service, network routers 103-104 encapsulate IP packets from links 111-112 in MPLS wrappers based on addressing in the IP packets. Network routers 103-104 exchange these MPLS wrappers for the VPN service over MPLS tunnel 113 based on the MPLS labels. Network routers 103-104 de-capsulate IP packets from the MPLS wrappers from tunnel 113 based on the MPLS labels and transfer the resulting IP packets over links 111-112. Thus, site A and site B exchange user communications in IP packets over links 111-112 and tunnel 113.
For the Internet access service, network routers 103-104 encapsulate IP packets from links 111-112 in MPLS wrappers based on addressing in the IP packets. Network routers 103-104 exchange these MPLS wrappers with an Internet access system over MPLS tunnels 114-115 based on the MPLS labels. The Internet access system de-capsulates the IP packets from the MPLS wrappers from tunnels 114-115 for exchange with the Internet. The Internet access system also encapsulates IP packets from the Internet in MPLS wrappers for transfer to tunnels 114-115. Network routers 103-104 de-capsulate IP packets from the MPLS wrappers from tunnels 114-115 based on the MPLS labels and transfer the IP packets over links 111-112. Thus, site A and site B exchange user communications in IP packets with the Internet access system over links 111-112 and tunnels 114-115.
For the VOIP service, network routers 103-104 encapsulate IP packets from links 111-112 in MPLS wrappers based on addressing in the IP packets. Network routers 103-104 exchange these MPLS wrappers with a VOIP access system over MPLS tunnels 116-117 based on the MPLS labels. The VOIP access system de-capsulates the IP packets from the MPLS wrappers from tunnels 116-117 for transfer to a VOIP network. The VOIP access system also encapsulates IP packets from the VOIP network in MPLS wrappers for transfer to tunnels 116-117. Network routers 103-104 de-capsulate IP packets from the MPLS wrappers from tunnels 116-117 based on the MPLS labels and transfer the IP packets over links 111-112. Thus, site A and site B exchange user communications in IP packets with the VOIP access system over links 111-112 and tunnels 116-117.
Quality-of-Service (QoS) management for these services is important to the customer. Network routers 103-104 provide QoS management for MPLS tunnels 113-117. This QoS management includes the control over bandwidth, error rates, latency, and jitter on a per tunnel basis. Unfortunately, there are no effective techniques to manage the QoS of the individual services within TDM links 111-112. Thus, all services are treated the same on TDM links 111-112, even if one service should take priority over another service.
The QoS management provided by MPLS can be extended from network routers 103-104 to customer routers 101-102. MPLS extension would require that the customer configure their routers for MPLS QoS management, and then to allow system 100 to manage the configured routers. Unfortunately, MPLS extension may be too complex and expensive for some customers.
Circuit bonding has been developed to provide communication services over concatenated TDM links. Circuit bonding interfaces offer multiple physical Ethernet ports to the customer and the network. The circuit bonding interfaces also provide QoS management on a per port basis. This QoS management includes the control over bandwidth, error rates, latency, and jitter. Circuit bonding systems have not been effectively combined with MPLS systems to provide QoS management at the service level.